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Originally Posted by Spk2u  Hello I'm new ..I rescued a yorkie puppy who was given up because of her bad behavior and age of the previous owner.I have two other dogs .a golden and a cockatoo. My yorkies name is Brooklyn(little dog with a big attitude).my worst problem is her incessant barking.she barks at the other dogs,at me,at the air....how do I control this..I have nevr had a barker before...help please |
Earplugs??
The Bark Off (white plastic case) at PetSmart doesn't work (employees gladly tell you that) I bought one and returned it. I did buy some other version off Amazon that I read about on YT (I think it was called the bark repellent, as a high frequency sound/push a button on it) it works to some degree. Which was probably the most effective of all the things I tried:
Mine generally only bark for a reason (though it's not a reason to me, it's a reason to them...neighbor cats in the yard, etc) so they are doing their "job" - alerting me to those "important issues" so I don't discourage it too much. Initially, when it looked like the barking was heading toward excessive we tried: The pennies in the pop can ---worked for a week. Whispering worked for another week...like a small child...if you whisper to them they will (sometimes) be quiet, cock their head, and try to hear you (but if they're smart they figure that one out pretty fast).
That's part of the problem getting a dog that was given up for a reason...the reasons come with it. Always a risk. You said 'puppy' I would think diverting its attention to something quiet and rewarding to it might work...like the whispering thing... or try "rewarding" the others who are being quiet (again, if the dog is smart it will figure out they get a treat for for what it isn't doing) but if it's an incessant barker maybe a training program like at PetSmart?? I know some YT'er's have did training there for one reason or another.
We also tried saying: "quiet" and then when she'd be quiet she got a treat...again...another couple weeks. She's smart, she learned to come barking for no reason and then be quiet and wait for a treat. Tried the water bottle with a few drops of vinegar in it (highly diluted - but you know they can smell it) Again, she quickly learned to bark out of our reach.
When she got snippy we muzzled her (soft muzzle - only for a few minutes after the negative behavior) and now all we have to say is "You want the muzzle?" She gets pretty nice fast after that. But that wasn't really for barking so I don't know if that would work there.
In the end: A lot of patience I guess. - she outgrew most of it. Not the neighborhood cats through..they still tick her off. I give her that one...especially when they're digging and doing their business in my flower beds!!! lol She really only barks now for the cats and then when she's tattling on one of the other dogs. I make sure I respond to what's important and ignore what's not. (making sure I respond to what she may think is important too - when she comes barking directly at me you can bet one of the other dogs has found the toilet paper or something else they shouldn't have). She always leads me directly to the offender.
Good Luck